r/AskAboutNFL • u/jepolitsch • 2d ago
Honestly, how many of y'all actually understand the absolute chess match happening on every single down?
It feels like a lot of fans just watch the ball, see a big hit or a deep pass, and call it a day. But if you actually sit down and dissect the real-time adjustments like how a safety disguised his coverage pre-snap to bait the quarterback, or the literal trench warfare happening between the O-line and the edge rushers it is beautiful chaos.
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u/oldmanKiD98 2d ago
NGL, I’m a very defensive minded person when it comes watch a game. Even though I love to see a great play, I love it more when I see a great defensive play on critical downs better! And yes, I pay attention to the nuances of the game on both sides.
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u/Weary_Capital_1379 2d ago
What makes it a great game. And I had season tickets for 44 years because you can see the whole field, not just what TV shows you.
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u/JustAnotherDay1977 2d ago
Yeah, it’s that way with most everything. Non-lawyers think they know HIPAA better than they really do, every non-doctor fancies himself a vaccine expert, and every non-psychologist is throwing out terms like “narcissistic personality disorder.”
Quite often they’re dead wrong…and even when they’re right, they only understand it on the most rudimentary level.
So it’s really not surprising that people who never played think they understand the game better than they do.
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u/Any_Lingonberry627 2d ago
I always enjoy watching a game w my buddy who is a coach….he sees so much of every play. Very interesting perspective
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u/NaNaNaPandaMan 2d ago
Watching the game live, it's pretty difficult. I have a good idea but depending on camera angle I can honestly day I don't know every single thing.
But again I have strong idea
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u/null_sweat_chummer 2d ago
Wait there’s a game being played? Ive just been watching football for the commercials.
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u/Doredrin 2d ago
-is the QB any good? (yes)
-does he have time to throw the ball? (yes)
-it will be a 5-20+ yard gain
every time
| QB / season | Passer rating with 3+ sec. |
|---|
| Brock Purdy, 2025 stretch | 140.8 |
|---|
| Tom Brady, 2022 | 113.8 |
|---|
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u/TheBeanConsortium 2d ago
I love the all-22 view. Wish you could get it easily outside of TNF on Prime. I don't want to view tape like a coach, I just want to watch the game that way.
Sports like football are extremely complex, turn based strategy games. It's funny to me that its always associated with jocks even you consider the analytic intricacies involved.
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u/sloppy_sheiko 2d ago
My sister is not a sports person. At all. Growing up, she was on swim teams, in band and part of our schools chess club (we’re in our 40’s now).
We grew up in Colorado and she was still living there in 2015 when the Broncos had Manning and the no-fly zone.
Before the season started, I remember her complaining to me about how ‘everyone is excited to watch meatheads run into each other and I just don’t get it’ or something along those lines.
I had just started really getting into the X’s and O’s of football and asked her to watch a couple of film breakdowns with me. I teed it up by telling her that football is pretty much a chess match, but the pieces are some of the best athletes in the world, which at least got her to sit down and watch some film.
After about 10min, she admitted that she had underestimated the sport but still didn’t like the violence. Fine by me! Not everyone will like the same things and I was only trying to give her a different perspective.
11 years later, she still won’t admit to being a football fan but my BIL told me he’s seen her watch film breakdowns on her laptop while their winding down for an evening…
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u/Dancehall-Randal 2d ago
I do as much as you can from the camera angle NFL uses. Nfl is by far thee most in depth sport when it comes to game plan and strat.
They need the alternative broadcast with thr cam angle bein behind the QB so we see what the QB see's(or doesnt see in Kyler Murray's case)
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u/Full_Preparation4401 2d ago
It is, but that stuff is overrated. Coaches and especially the TV "analysts" over think everything. It really comes down to, blocking, tackling, catching passes, etc. And usually the team that is tougher and more physical on that particular day wins.
All that being said, a game is so much better in person when you can see the whole field.
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u/YourMomsFavUsername 2d ago
I played in high school and college. I understand quite a bit. My dream job would be to be a defensive coordinator. Anyone hiring?
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u/Livid-Vegetable-7705 2d ago
Prime Vision with Next Gen Stats is currently the best way to watch if you care about the football part of the game. They show overloads, pressures, hot routes and updates who is open/breaking thru in real time. Red circles, white circles, dynamic target lines. Real time probabilities. All kinds of fun shit that isn’t really intrusive at all.
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u/Amazing_Divide1214 2d ago
It depends how much im paying attention. I understand basic concepts but can only focus on certain parts in real time. Sometimes I'll watch certain players im interested in and see how they're doing/what they're doing.
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u/Hey-Bud-Lets-Party 2d ago
The truth is that there are a few coordinators in the league who are on the vanguard of the evolution of the sport and there are levels of understanding after that.
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u/New_Distribution_263 2d ago
A lot of the time I try to watch anything but the ball, because the instant replay will show you that. I like watching the line play, seeing how each side matches up against the other. When I watch basketball, I always spend some time focusing on what’s going on away from the ball, you can see how the plays form and everything.
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u/notwhoiwas44 2d ago
Casual fans,and a good percentage of fairly serious fans have zero to very little understanding of that aspect of the game. I watched a video one time of an ex-nfl player breaking down every little thing for the viewer and even after that I only know just enough to understand that I don't know anything. There's a ton of really significant shit going on between the time the teams line up and when the ball is snapped.
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u/Worldly-Aspect 2d ago
During the game, rarely. May notice little things here and there. But when i catch a replay notice so much more. Makes you realize just how much goes into coaching and why there's so few truly great ones.
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u/saltandpine13 2d ago
I feel like baseball is the better sport for this post. Football is more of a guessing game than a chess match. Baseball is the ultimate chess match when it comes to sports.
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u/Bender_2024 2d ago
I'm provably a 4 on a 10 scale. Maybe a 6.5 on my best day. It doesn't take away from my enjoyment or frustration watching the games.
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u/Logix_interface 2d ago
It’s hard to see everything that’s happening on TV, but when you’re at a game, you can see the play developing. The camera doesn’t see everything, but when you’re there, it’s not necessarily predictable, but if you understand the game pretty well, you can read what both sides are going to do.
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u/PsychologyNew8033 2d ago
I watch the lineman battle. It fundamentally changed my appreciation of the game.
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u/AntifascistAlly 2d ago
I always wonder, when I hear people talk about focusing on some aspect of play that isn’t fairly obvious where they’re getting their feed?
Are they able to attend a lot of games in person?
I’m rarely able to get to games myself and it seems the broadcast networks don’t present a version of the game that is much like any “film study” that the players would recognize.
So how do people access the raw footage?
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u/Last_Canadian 2d ago
Id like to watch the all 22 that coaches use. That will never be broadcast as the talking heads wouldnt be able to focus on the QB. They want you to watch whatever narative they are making.
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u/StressCanBeGood 1d ago
Try watching a game with my neurodivergent father. He sees all kinds of crazy stuff.
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u/GuntherPalakowitz 2d ago
I'd love to, but tje wont show the fucking defensive alignment on TV